Spring driven reel



March 6, 1954 G. E. KAUFMAN 2672304 SPRING DRIVEN REEL v v Filed Jan.28, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. George EKaufman 4i"? TTORNEY.

G. E. KAUFMAN SPRING DRIVEN REEL March 16, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 28, 1950 INVENTOH. Geozyel'f. Kaufmazz ATTORNEY.

Marcb 16, 1954 G. E. KAUFMAN SPRING DRIVEN REEL 5 Sheets-Shee't 3 FiledJan. 28, 1950 INVENTOR.

Ge or ye E Kaufman 57 ZM ATTOBNEY.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 SPRING DRIVEN REEL George E. Kaufman,

Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Ho o ver Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

ornomtion o Oh Applica'tion January 28, 1950, Serial N0. 141,096

15 Claims.

This invention relates to suction cleaners, floor poiishers 01 othersuch hand-manipulated appliances and more particularly 120 a springweund cord real applied therete whereby Ehe. canductor cord isautomaically wound and rewound cnto a reel associated with -theappliance as lt is moved away from 01- toward an outlet soeket 170 whiehthe conductor cord is connected.

In the usual spring -weund cord reel the unwinding resistance increasesprogressively as the cord is unwound. Conversel-y, the rewinding forcedecreases progressively as the cord is returned 170 the reel. The aboveis exaetly the reverse of that desired in hand manipulated appliances.As the ambulatory appliance is moved away from the outlet connection themore cord there 1 I:o manipulate. Conseque'ntly I;he rewinding force orthe force necessary I:o propel the appliance away from the ouletisgreatly decreased as the appliance is moved I;oward I:-he outlet. Withordinary spring wound reels, fihe force is sometimes not sutfiei@nt toeompletely rewincl the cord onto the ree The latter, cf course, can heremedied by increasing the spring tension but' thatwould also increasethe resistance to movement of the appliance away from theoutlet as thevcord is unwound.

The preferable arrangement weuld be one in which the resistanee 110movement of the applh anee away from the outlet would be constant or inwhich such resistance to movement decreases as the cord is unwound.

According to the p esent inve ntion -the abo.v.e results are carried outby the use o f a prestressed spring arranged to resist unwindingmovement of the cord and to t en d to rewindthe cord, in which theprestressing 0,.f the spring eauses it 120 r 5it unwinding movement ofthe cord with a eonstant iorc e or to resist such movement with aprogressiy ely decreasing force.

According to the broadest aspe cts 01 this invention a spring rewoundcord reel f or an ambm latory appliance is provided in WhiCh 15heresistance to cord unwinding movementiscons tant er decreases as theappliance-is mc ved away from an outlet andinwhich the :I;enden cy forthe cord to rewind is constant or in creases ;as th e appliance is movedtoward the outlet.

Other object s and advantages of t his Invention will become apparenta's the descrlption proceeds when taken in connection with.the a0]-companying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view :Iihrough the lower end of the"handlepflanambulatory appliance showing I;he cord reel of this inventionapplied thereto;

Fig. 1a is a cross sectional view through the upper end of the handle ofFig. 1;

Figure 2 is a view caken ab right angles to that 0f Fi. 1;

Fig. 2a is a view taken of Fig. 1a;

Figure 3 schematicallyshows how the prestressed spring acts according tothis invention;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modifi cation of the invention;and

Figure 5 is a view of the cord reel of Fig. 4 taken a1; right angleS toFig. 4.

Referrihg to the drawing, tne reference numeral I!) represents thehandle of an ambulatory appliance, such as"a suction cleaner or floorpolisher, and having a flat eylindrical casing I I suitably secured theunderside thereof. Within the cylindricaheasing- I I is a cord reelgenerally indicated b3;i:he reference numeral I2. The reel I2 comprisesa cylindrical portion I3, outwardly extending fianges to forma space forreceivihg I5 and a hub I6 which is rotatably mounted within the casingII |by means of ash'aft I7 rigid with the hub portion I6.

The ends of the wires of conductoreerd I5are electrically connected '-tospring c011tacts I8 mounted on the upper side ofan insulating plate I9ecured 110 the hub I6. The spring contacts I8 cooperate with slip rings2II suitably secured to the under face of an insulating plate 2Isuitably secured the back of the casing II next to the handle II). Theslip rings 20 are electrically connected to conductor cords 22 leadingdownwardly to a plug 23 a1: right angles to that band grip end thereof.to be electrically connected to the motor of an ambulatory appliancesuch as a suetion cleaner, floor p'olisher er other such appliance. Thefree end of the cord I5 extends upwardly throxigh a tube 24 securedtothe underside of the handle I0 and is guided f0r movement through thetube and onto the reel I2 by a guide pulley 25.-

AI. the end of the tube 24 is a clamping pawl 21 which willlock I;hecerd against inward movement into the taube 24 until manually releasedbut will permit the cord Ioe pulled outward freely. A suitable prongedattachment plug 28 is suitably seeured t'o the free endet the cord I5.

The shaft I'I extends into o'he interior of tl-ie handle I 0 and has apinion gear 30 rigidlysecured thereto' which coactg with the teeth ofaraek I4 which cooper d7e th'e conduetor cord in the bottom endof thehandle I0 and toan elctri0 switch 26 in the The plug 23 is adapted anambulatory appliance such as a suction;cleaner or a fioor polisherhaving a spring wound cord reel in which the force required to pull thecord from the reel is constant or decreases as the cord is unwoundregardless of the distance cf the appliance from the electrical outlet.

Whiler1 have shown laut two embodiments of my invention it is to beunderstood that these embodiments are to be taken as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to theparticular structure shown and described but to includeall equivalentvariations thereof except as limited by the scope cf the claims.

I claim:

1. A handle for an ambulato-ry appliance comprising, an elongated tube,an electric cord associated therewith, a cord winding spool rotatablymounted on said handle one end of said cord being attached to said cordwinding spool the arrangement being such that the length of said cord iswound upon said cord winding spool when it is rotated in one directionand unwound therefrom when it is rotated in the opposite direction, asecond freely rotatable spool carried by said handle in spacedrelationship to said cord winding spool, and a thin elongated narrowfiat spring having its one end wound in a solid coil about said secondspool, means forming a drivi'ng con nection between the other end ofsaid spring and said cord winding spool so that said spring resistsunwinding movement of said cord, said spring being prestressed crosswisein a manner to assume a camber bowed outwardly relative to said secondspool as it is unwound from said coil and pre-stressed along its lengthso as to have a natural arc of smaller radius than said second spool soas to resisi; being unwound from said second spool and to tend to rewinditself on said second spool whereby said spring will resist unwindingmovement o1" said cord winding spool.

2. A handle according to claim 1 in which the prestressing of saidspring is such that as it is unwound from said coil only that portion oflength being unwound resists unwinding thereof.

3. A handle according to claim 2 in which the prestressing of saidspring is such that as a portion of the length of said spring is unwoundfrom said coil and assumes its camber the prestressed forces in thatportion are locked out of action.

4. A handle according to claim 3 in which the prestressing of saidspring along its length is such that the resistance to unwinding of saidspring from said coil is constant along the length of said springwhereby the resistance to unwinding of said cord is substantiallyconstant and the rewinding forces are substantially constant regardlessof the length of cord unwound.

5. A handle according to claim 3 in which the prestressing of saidspring along its lengch is suoh that the resistance to unwinding of saidspring from said coil decreases as it is unwound therefrom whereby theresistance to unwinding cf said cord from said cord winding spooldecreases as the cord is unwound.

6. In combination, a handle for an ambulatory appliance, an electriccord carried by said handle. a winding reel including a cord windingspool rotatably carried by said handle, said cord heing secured to saidspool so that the length o-f said cord will be wound upon and wound fromsaid spool upon rotation thereof in opposite directions, a springwinding spool carried by said handle in spaced relationship to said cordwinding spool and having its axis parallel to the axis of saidoordwinding spool, and a prestressed thirr elongated flat narrow springhaving one ofitsends coiled about said spring winding spool in a solidcoilmeans-forming a driving connection be tween the: other end of saidspring and aid cord windingspool so that said spring resists unwindingof said cord therefrom and said spring heilig prestressed along itslength so as to have a nat' ural-arc of smaller radius than that cf saidspring winding spool soas to wind upon said spring winding spool andprestressed so asto takea camher bowedoutwardly relative to= said springwinding spool asit is unwound from said coil.

7. The combination according to claim 6 in which the arrangement is suchthat the length of the spring assumes a straight portion between saidcoil and its driving oonnection to said cord winding spool.

8. In combination, an elongated body, a 1-0 ta-tably mounted cordwinding spool carried b? said body an electric cord having one endsecuredtosaid spool whereby rotation thereof in one direction will windsaid cord thereon and rotation thereof in the opposite direction Willunwindsaidcord therefrom, a second spool mounted on:said body forrotationon an axis spaced from and paralleltothe axisof said cordwinding spool and a. flat thin elongated narrow spring having one endwound in a solid coil about i second spool, means forming a drivingconnection between the other end of said spring and said cord windingspool so that said spring resists unwinding of said cord therefrom, saidspring being prestressed crosswise so as to assume a camber bowedoutwardly relative to said second spool as it is unwound from said coiland prestressed along its length to have a natural arc o1 less radiusthan that of said second spool so as to tend to Wind itself into a solidcoil on said spool.

.9. The combination according to claim 8 in which the prestressing ofsaid spring is such that as the spring is unwound from said coil,straightens out and assumes its camber it Will. lock out the tendency ofthe straight portion of. said spring to rewind itself upon said coil;

10. A handle for an ambulatory appliance comprising, an elongated tube,a reel secured to said tube intermediate of its ends, a smaller tubesecured to the underside of said elongated tube and extending from saidreel to adjacent the band grip end of said elongated tube, said reelincluding a cord winding spool, an electric cord hars;- one end attachedto said spool in such manner that rotation of said spool in onedirection will Wind the length of said cord thereon and rotation in theopposite direction will unwind said cord. therefrom, said cord windingspool having a shait extending into the interior of said elongated tub*a pinion gear on said shaft interiorly of said elengated tube, a rackbar slidably mounted on the interior of said tube and having teeth inengagement with the teeth cf said pinion gear, a secon=i spool on theinterior of said elongated tube adjacent the hand grip end thereof and athin elengated narrow spring having one end wound in solid coil aboutsaid second spool and its other end attached to said rack bar, saidspring being prestresed crosswise in such manner as to assume a camberbowed outwardly relative to said second spool as it is unwound from saidcoil and prestressed along its length so as to havea natural arc of lessradius than that 01 said second spool whereby said spring tends to winditself into a solid coil about said second spool to resist unwinding cfsaid cord from said cord winding spool by the force required to unwindeach portion 01 length cf said spring from said coil.

11. A handle according to claim in which said spring is prestresseda.long its length in such a manner that the resistance to unwinding ofsaid cord from said cord winding reel decreases es the cord is unwound.

12. A handle for an ambulatory appliance comprlsing, a, reel casing,tubular handle sections secured 130 said casing and extending inopposite directions therefrom, a cord winding spool rotatably mountedwithin said casing and includfing a drum in alignment with the interiorof said. handle sections, an electric cord ha.ving one of its enclssecured 130 seid spool whereby rotation of said spool in one directionwill wind the length of seid cord onto said spool and rotation in theopposite direction will unwind said cord therefrom, a second spoolmounted for free rotation in seid casing upon an axis in spaced parallelrelationship to the axis of seid drum, the diameter of said second spoolbeing smaller than that of saicl drum, and a thin flat elongated springhaving its opposite ends wound in solid coils abont seid drum and secondspool, said spring being prestressed along its length so as to have anatural am of lesser radius than that of said second spool whereby saidspring tends to wind from said drum and onto said second. spool so as toresist unwinding 01 said cord from said cord windlns' reel.

13. A handle according to claim 12 in which sald spring is prestressedcrosswise in such manner as to assume an outward camber relative to saidcoils as it unwinds from seid coils.

14. A handle according claim 13 in which the prestressing of seid springis such that as each portion of the length thereof is unwound from saidcoils '1t straightens out assume its autward camber whereby the tendencyof that portion to rewind itself on seid coils is locked out 013 action.

15. A handle according to claim 12 in which said spring is prestressedin such manner that the resistance to unwinding cf said cord remainssubstantia lly constant.

GEORGE E. KAUFMAN.

Beferences Cited in the file Of this patent UNI'I'ED STATES PATENTS NameDa.te Fornelius Ost. 16, 1934 OTHER REFERENCES Number

